Reviews by SJMJ91

God! I was totally blown away by this film! I have wanted to watch this film for ages but the DVD wasn't released until the very end of 2009. It was shocking and intense to watch. I found it moving at a fast pace right the way through. This film reminded me a lot of American Beauty and A Streetcar Named Desire mostly because of the intense chemistry between the two main characters. To be honest, I would call it a black comedy like American Beauty where you unnecessarily laugh. I love films set in one day and this is definitely the best. This film was based on the play of the same name which was premiered in 1962.


Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? tells the story of a middle-aged married couple George and Martha coming home from a party at her father's house. The two of them clearly care deeply for each other, but events have turned their marriage into a nasty battle between two disenchanted, cynical enemies. Even though the pair arrives home at two o'clock in the morning, they are expecting guests: the new math professor and his wife. This is another one of those rare films where every single actor in this film deliver Oscar worthy performances. Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Martha was absolutely fantastic!! Taylor's performance was psychologically disturbing like Annette Bening's as Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty. Taylor's performance has dethroned Vivien Leigh as my favourite performance by an actress in a leading role. Martha is the 52-year-old daughter of the president of New Carthage University. She is married to George, though disappointed with his aborted academic career. She attempts to have an affair with Nick. Richard Burton's performance as George was absolutely FANTASTIC as well! George is a 46-year-old member of the history department at New Carthage University. George is married to Martha, in a once loving relationship now defined by sarcasm and frequent acrimony. George Segal's performance was awesome too! Nick has just become a new member of the biology faculty at New Carthage University. He is 28 years old, good-looking, Midwestern, and clean-cut. He is married to Honey. Sandy Dennis was awesome as Honey. Honey is the petite, bland wife of Nick. She is 26 years old, has a weak stomach, and is not the brightest bulb of the bunch.


Mike Nichols has always been a director of dramas and comedies. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? was Nichols's feature film debut as director and it is one of the best debuts of all time if not the best. This is another way where Virginia Woolf is similar to American Beauty: top-notch Oscar nominated directing debut like Mendes in 1999 who won Best Director. It received 13 Oscar nominations and it is one of the four films that received that amount of Oscar nominations that was nominated Best Picture but never won it. Others were Mary Poppins, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. It won 5 out of those 13 nominations. It won Best Leading Actress (Elizabeth Taylor), Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis), Best Art Direction Black-And-White, Best Cinematography Black-And-White and Best Costume Design Black-And-White. It was nominated for Best Leading Actor (Richard Burton), Best Supporting Actor (George Segal), Best Director (Mike Nichols), Best Film Editing, Best Music Original Music Score, Best Picture 1966, Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.


Overall, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? is an absolutely fantastic drama that was very intense to watch all the way through that has a very emotional climax. An almost PERFECT film and is now one of my favourite films of all time.

I was never a big fan of Jurassic Park at all as a child but when I rewatched it about 2 years ago for the first time in about 5 years, I loved it a lot more! I find Jurassic Park one of the most overrated films of all time as well as one of the most successful blockbusters of all time. Jurassic Park is a film that has been named a family film by magazines and websites but, to be honest, I think the film is too scary for that status (like Lord Of The Rings). Jurassic Park is one of those films that children of the 90s would grow up with like Star Wars in the 70s and Harry Potter in the 00s. I would call this an educational film especially those who are archaeologists or who are interested in that subject. Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark of CGI. There were many positive reviews. Most of them treasured the effects but in some of the other elements of the film were mixed.


Sam Neill's performance as Dr. Alan Grant was awesome! Grant is a world reowned paleontologist excavating Velociraptor fossils in the Montana Badlands. He dislikes children, frightening one with a talon of a raptor, but he soon has to protect Hammond's grandchildren. Laura Dern delivers a good performance as Dr. Ellie Sattler as well. She is a paleobotanist and graduate student of Grant. Dern also met Horner and visited the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, learning to prepare a fossil. Jeff Goldblum delivers the best performance in this film as Dr. Ian Malcolm. I could see Goldblum's deep interest in this film because he is a big fan of dinosaurs. Malcolm is a mathematician and chaos theorist. He warns of the danger of resurrecting dinosaurs and becomes Hammond's main opposition. He clearly shows that he fancies Dr. Sattler. Richard Attenborough was awesome in this film too as John Hammond. He is the CEO of InGen and architect of Jurassic Park. Samuel L. Jackson makes a supporting appearance in this film too.


Every decade since he started his career, he has created a very successful blockbuster (as far as gross revenue is concerned). Jaws in the 70s, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in the 80s, Jurassic Park in the 90s and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull in the 00s. I would probably say that Jurassic Park and E.T. are equally successful. Spielberg has a thing for creating franchises on a kind of archaeology. Spielberg originally cast Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum but Sigourney Weaver was his first choice for Dr. Ellie Sattler but Dern was cast instead. Jurassic Park won all 3 Oscars that it was nominated for: Best Sound, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.


Overall, Jurassic Park is a very intense powerful film to watch. It is wildly overrated but apart from that, it is another Spielberg masterpiece!

White Heat was on my "to watch" list for quite a long time. When I finally got round to watching it, I wasn't disappointed with it at all. In all fairness, I wouldn't call myself a big fan of gangster films but this one gripped me from start to finish. Personally, I think that every single gangster film before the release of The Godfather in 1972 is underrated. None of them have received half as what The Godfather has. This is one of those film where you get totally gripped by a powerful introduction where you just can't wait for more and where you just want more at the last scene when the film is finishing.


This film was the very first film I saw with James Cagney. His performance as Cody Jarrett was absolutely FANTASTIC!! Cody Jarrett is the ruthless, deranged leader of a criminal gang. He is married to a young woman called Verna and despite that he is married to her; he is even closer to his mother "Ma" Jarrett. Cody treats his mother not just like his mother but like his best friend so he trusts her more than anybody. She also acts like his boss so he is a bit of a "Mummy's boy" so to speak (like Norman Bates with Mrs. Bates). It is revealed in the film that Jarrett's father died in an insane asylum so we do clearly see that he didn't have an easy upbringing. The Cody Jarrett character was based on New York murderer Francis "Two Gun" Crowley who was executed by electric chair in Sing Sing Correctional Facility on 21st January 1932. His last words were "Send my love to my mother". Arthur Barker (a gangster of the 30s and a son of Ma Barker) might have been another inspiration to the Cody Jarrett character.


Raoul Walsh directed this film brilliantly!! I think the only currently living director who could have pulled off a great remake of this film would be Michael Mann. The screenplay was based on a story by Virginia Kellogg. White Heat was nominated for only 1 Academy Award: Best Writing Screenplay (but lost to The Stratton Story). AFI gave it a lot more credit than the Academy Awards did. They named it the fourth best gangster film and the quote "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" was #18 on AFI's greatest move quotes.


Overall, White Heat is a fantastic gangster film that is extremely underrated! I prefer it over famous gangster films like GoodFellas, Scarface (both remake and original) and most recently Public Enemies. It is without a doubt one of the best crime films of all time but not quite on my favourite films list.

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is a beautiful classic musical that has touched many hearts for many years. It certainly did touch mine and it touched it hard. Everything about this musical was just too beautiful to watch. It is a very underrated musical that I personally think should be treasured and loved as much as Singin' In The Rain. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers has only one slight flaw and that it is a very predictable film. You can notice this only by seeing the film title. Despite that, it didn't affect my liking for the film. It is a film rated 'U' which makes it suitable for the family. I think that this aswell as Singin' In The Rain doesn't quite capture the "family film" so to speak feeling about them. All of the dance sequences were endlessly beautiful to watch especially when six of the seven brothers were fighting over six girls to dance with against six other men who were willing to do the same. Every single song in this film was pure magic but my favourite song has to be Sobbin' Women.


The film tells the story of a backwoodsman named Adam Pontipee and his new bride Milly, who suddenly marries him even though they hardly know each other. In fact, its only been hours seeing they've been acquainted. Just after they've married, Adam takes his new wife to his cabin in the mountains where he lives with his six brothers Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephriam, Frank and Gideon. All of the brothers have red hair and are over six feet tall. They remind me of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter series because they all have red hair. Howard Keel's performance as Adam was awesome! Howard gave Adam a lot of charm which made him a really nice guy but he also gave him a bit of possession which gave Adam a slight dark side because he sort of treats her like a worker in his house to cook and clean for them. Jane Powell was amazing in this film! I am surprised she wasn't a contender for Best Leading Actress in 1954.


Stanley Donen was an excellent director of choice for this film. It wasn't long after he directed Singin' In The Rain alongside Gene Kelly. The directing in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is another thing that I preferred in this one over Singin' In The Rain. There were a lot of similarities but there were a lot of differences as well. The script of the film is based on the short story called The Sobbin' Women by Stephen Vincent Benét. There was a TV series released with the same name and that was loosely-based on the film. There was also Seven Brides For Seven Brothers the musical which was released in 1979 based on the film. The film won 1 Academy Awards out of 5 nominations. It won Best Music, Scoring Of A Musical Picture and was nominated for Best Cinematography Color, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Picture (but lost to On The Waterfront).


Overall, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is a beautiful, lovely and adventurous musical that I feel everyone would enjoy! I preferred it over the most famous musical of the 50s: Singin' In The Rain. Highly recommended!

Hmmm... there were a lot of things that I thought were pure genius about this film. However, in other ways, I was quite disappointed. Where I thought Giant was awesome was obviously the fantastic acting and directing. Also, it had absolutely breathtaking art direction and cinematography. On the other hand where I was slightly disappointed was that the scenes and pretty much the whole film was a bit too long. Giant is a 50s epic that I think has been inspired by Baz Luhrmann's Australia in some ways.


Giant tells the story of Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson). He is the head of the rich Benedict ranching family in Texas and goes to Maryland to buy a stud horse, War Winds. While there he meets and courts the socialite Leslie (Taylor), who later becomes his wife. They return to Texas to start their life together on the family ranch. Jett Rinks (Dean) is the family handyman. He is envious of the Benedict wealth and flirts with Leslie much to Bick's dismay. Rock Hudson's performance as "Bick" Benedict was absolutely awesome! Elizabeth Taylor's performance may not be one of her best performances but it certainly is one that cannot be missed. Now onto the main star of the film: the late James Dean. I loved his performance in Giant! Jett is a very typical James Dean character because he is young, amusing and most of all charming. Dean received his second posthumous Oscar nomination. Dean tragically died in a car accident before the film was released. Nick Adams was called into doing some voice-over dubbing for Dean's role. Out of the two leading actors in the film, James Dean was the best. Jett Rink was based on oil tycoon Glenn Herbert McCarthy (1907-1988).


George Stevens couldn't have directed Giant any better. Because of Dean's death in late production of the film, Stevens found himself in a hard situation like Gilliam's situation with Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus. One difference, though: Dean died just when filming pretty much ended, Ledger died just over half way through filming. Stevens originally wanted to cast Alan Ladd as Jett Rink but Ladd's wife was against it so role went to Dean instead. Grace Kelly was offered the role of Leslie before Elizabeth Taylor accepted the role. As I previously said, I feel that Luhrmann used a lot from this film and George Stevens' work in this film. Giant was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 1957 and out of those 10 nominations; it only won one for Best Director for George Stevens. It was also nominated for Best Leading Actor (both Rock Hudson and James Dean), Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge), Best Art Direction (Colour), Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture 1956.


Overall, Giant is an enjoyable classic that I perhaps wouldn't watch again. It has its flaws but so do most films. It is an epic that I think any fan of classic films would enjoy.

I had absolutely no desire at all to see this film because it looked a very cheap and rushed film. However, when I randomly watched it my college class, I sort of enjoyed it. It was hilarious to watch but it was also quite hard to watch as well due to the terrifying suspense. I would say Severance is mixed between Scream, Evil Dead, Shaun Of The Dead and Lesbian Vampire Killers. The suspense like Scream but the humour like the other two films I mentioned. There was a lot of gruesome violence within this film. There were some laughable violent moments like the bear trap scene. In 2009, the film was revived following the real-life murder of a UK teenager. This 17-year-old boy was killed in same way as one of the seven people in the film were killed. In fact, the killers of this boy were inspired by a death in Severance which lead to the so-called "copy-cat murder".


Severance tells the story of a group of seven people. Their names are Steve, Maggie, Richard, Harris, Gordon, Jill and Billy. When their bus driver leaves them outside a forest, the tables begin to turn. Danny Dyer isn't really an actor of serious characters or films. He is an actor of just entertainment. I didn't like him at all in this film. There were moments in the film where I seriously wanted to slap him across the face! It wasn't so much the character, it was him. Laura Harris' performance as Maggie reminded me a lot of Shelley Duvall's performance in The Shining apart from Laura was A LOT worse!


Christopher Smith directed this film absolutely brilliantly! In fact, he was a great director of choice if not the best. This would have been a good Wes Craven film. Every single shot when it is at night, it makes you sit on the edge of your seat like you are feeling what the characters are feeling. The script wasn't very good but could've been a lot worse.


Overall, Severance is a guilty pleasure of mine that in some ways was absolute crap but in others was absolute brilliance! It is a very underrated British film and I think it is fine as it is. See this if you like violent films and suspenseful thrillers.

After seeing unique films like Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Adaptation, my expectations were rather high going into this film. Jim Carrey starring in a drama playing an emotional character was very peculiar so that expressed my interest too. When I watched The Truman Show, it took hold of me and kept my eyes focused to the screen until the film ended. This is a film that I think would make people shed a tear or two as it almost did for me. It felt a bit like a tragic story because a man's life is a TV show. As I've stated, The Truman Show is indeed a tear-jerking film but it also has a few laughs in it to lighten the film up and where Jim is at his very best.

Jim Carrey's performance as Truman Burbank was absolutely phenomenal! How Jim wasn't nominated for a Best Leading Actor Oscar in this film I'll never know! What I loved about Jim in this film was that he was playing a character where Jim woud play his hilarious, wacky self as Truman. On the other hand, Jim delivers something that we hadn't seen from him before. Jim Carrey proves not only that he is the funniest film actor alive but is one of those very rare actors who can deliver great performances in both dramas and comedies. I think it is my favourite Jim Carrey film so far.

Peter Weir did an absolutely fantastic job as director of The Truman Show. This would have been a great film for directors like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry but I don't think they could've directed it any better than Weir did. Weir gave the audience that feeling like they're viewers of The Truman Show itself in the film. Almost like we are in the film as well. The script was absolutely awesome! Written almost perfectly and is definitely one of the best original screenplays I've listened to and watched.

Overall, The Truman Show is a fantastic film that was very moving and sad but it also made me chuckle a couple of times due to Carrey. Highly recommended and cannot afford to be missed.

Zathura is a science fiction film that you will either love or hate. I rented this film from Blockbuster about 2 years ago and I wanted to see it but was slightly unsure about what I would make of it. A friend told me about it which did actually catch my attention to the film. When I watched it, my expectations were dashed because I truly thought to myself, "Wow! This was actually an amazing film to watch". Zathura is an ultimate adventure that can be quite "awwww" inspiring. I was blown away by how stunning the visual effects, make-up and art direction was. I would say it is one of the most space realistic films I've ever watched. This film is just amazing! When I finished it I was almost left speechless literally. Zathura is a really beautiful and adventurous for the family to sit down and enjoy but I think some children might become a bit freaked out or scared at the Zorgons. Zathura isn't directed by same person who did Jumanji but I think it follows up from the novelist of Jumanji especially because both are very similar types of stories as far as the game playing is concerned. The game types are totally different but they both have a very similar feeling to them. Zathura has a twist but I don't it's a twist you will be greatly shocked by.


I was actually quite surprised by how good the acting was in this film. Jonah Bobo was very good as Danny who is the youngest child in the family. Danny always argues with his older brother Walter which is typical with older siblings to do. I think Danny is the main character of this film because I think he is the most difference-making character. His acting was pretty good for a boy at such a young age. Josh Hutcherson is probably one of the best male child star actors at the moment for delivering top-notch acting. Josh was the best out of the whole cast out of the whole cast of the film. Walter is a very argumentative boy who picks on his younger brother Danny but when they start playing the game and as it goes on, he starts to have a different attitude towards his brother. Walter is the middle child in this film. I liked Dax Shepard as the Astronaut. He did seem a bit weak regarding words at times but he was still a very helpful, understanding and heroic man but has a little secret in the past. Kristen Stewart was good as oldest child Lisa. Lisa accidentally gets herself involved in the game as well because she is asleep in bed in her bedroom while it's going on. That was something I actually forgot in this film when they first started playing the game. Tim Robbins hasn't really played that type of character before. He was okay as the father of Danny, Walter and Lisa. We never know what is name is so he is just referred as "Dad".


The directing was awesome with a slight Kubrick-2001 effect to it. I really like Jon Favreau as a director now especially for science fiction films and for doing Zathura, Iron Man and it's upcoming sequel. The director made it a really experiencing children's film but there are some scenes that would scare them a bit. This film should have been a contender for the Oscar Best Visual Effects with the three actual nominees. It didn't receive any top award nominations but it was nominated for 2 Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror Films: Best Fantasy Film but lost to Batman Begins and Best Performance By A Young Actor but lost to Dakota Fanning in War Of The Worlds.


I think Zathura is one of my top 10 science fiction films and one of my favourite films of 2005. It has one of my top 10 male child star performances for Josh Hutcherson. Zathura is a very beautiful adventure that I could watch quite regularly. This is better than Jumanji because it is slightly more adult. Love this film and always will.

This film is a quite good adventure for the whole family to enjoy. It had that funny story and cleverly written story too. It was the start of Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back In Action. This film makes me laugh because Roger Rabbits character reminds me a lot like Daffy Ducks because they are both trouble makers but nice animals though, they are both heroic in a clumsy way, they are quite ridiculous characters but are just pure entertainment. The story in general is clumsy and quite silly but it is just family entertainment nothing more. It is a very witty story. It brings together all sorts of different types of characters. This film became big when it first came out because nobody has ever seen a film where there are real life people and animations that appear at the same time on the same film. This was like a classic blockbuster in the 1980s and early 1990s. This film lost its well known status until Space Jam was released in 1996. This film was extremely weird and really bizarre when it came out.


I did like Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant. Bob Hoskins truly makes Eddie like a grumpy old man who just wants to do his job nothing more. Eddie Valiant is a man who used to work with toons and doesnt like them anymore but until he is entwined with Roger Rabbit and the murder of Marvin Acme. When Roger confronts Eddie and asks for help, Eddie is torn because he doesnt want any trouble with the toons but he doesnt want anything to do with them either. Now he has no choice. He became a toon hater up until a toon hero who saved Roger and his wife Jessica. I thought the direction was descent with the clever scenes and the good actions that were used on each of the characters.


I love Robert Zemeckis work but I have to say that Who Framed Roger Rabbit is my least favourite from Zemeckis. I personally think that this film sort of set a level of comic book films even though this isnt a comic book. I cant explain why but I can just see it. I found the script quite lame to be honest because I found that most of the scenes were far too long and there were quite a lot of lame words involved in this film.


As I said this is my least favourite Zemeckis film because it is the weakest out of all of the films he has done. I thought this film was good but could have been a bit better. Also, it is an overrated family film. I think the main thing that disappointed me about it was it was just quite a weak story and poor characters. Apart from that, it was a good family film.

I was looking forward to seeing this short film since January 2007 but I finally saw it on TV on Christmas Day 2008 and it didn't disappoint me. What I truly love about Wallace And Gromit is that they are very clever character who always say very clever jokes. Also because every story they have together are just pure adventure and experiencing. Wallace And Gromit goes from rocket in space to mechanical trousers and thieving penguin, to a murderous dog with sheep to a vegetable ravaging rabbit to a murder mystery behind murders of 12 bakers.


Peter Sallis' voice as Wallace was once again hilarious. His voice is soft and very charming. Coronation Street former star Sally Lindsay starred as voice of Piella. Her accent was very Northern which was probably part of the character. Nick Park creates his darkest creation to date. Nick Park makes it a very typical British short because it is a film that has a lot of typical British jokes.


This is a film that only the British will have seen yet because they only showed it on TV on Christmas Day 2008. Must watch as soon as you can. Not my favourite Wallace And Gromit short. 1st: A Close Shave, 2nd: A Grand Day Out, 3rd: A Matter Of Loaf And Death and 4th: The Wrong Trousers. I love all of Wallace And Gromit shorts and the film and all of Nick Park's work aswell.